From: Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships

A sound of the coast of North Carolina and Virginia.

ScStr: t. 195 l 120' b. 23'

dph. 7'6" cpl. 52 a. 4 x 32-pdr., 1 x 20-pdr. r.

The first Currituck , a screw-steamer, was purchased 20 September 1861 at New York as Seneca ; renamed Currituck ; fitted for service at New York Navy Yard; and commissioned 27 February 1862, Acting Master W. F. Shankland in command.

Currituck was ordered to tow Monitor to Hampton Roads as soon as possible so that the revolutionary new ironclad might confront the Confederate Virginia (ex USS Merrimack ). Departing New York 6 March, Currituck and Monitor arrived Hampton Roads 8 March just in time to check the great successes of Virginia.

Assigned to duty with the Potomac Flotilla, Currituck spent her entire service in the Chesapeake Bay and tributary waters cooperating with Army movements ashore. She performed guard and picket duty, capturing or destroying Confederate property and engaging Southern land forces frequently. Between 4 May 1862 and 21 October 1863 she took eight vessels and aided in cutting out another, as well as capturing the fort at the confluence of the Pamunkey and Matapony rivers and stores at Carter's Creek. Throughout the remainder of the war she cruised constantly up and down the inland waters of Virginia and in Chesapeake Bay convoying transports and hospital boats with sick and wounded from Fredericksburg, Va., sending scouting parties ashore from time to time. Arriving at Washington, D.C., 31 July 1865, Currituck was decommissioned 4 August 1865 and sold September 1865.